George   Da via so 
1825-1911 


RINTING  FOR  THE  BLIND 


EEPORT 


OF  A  COMMITTEE   OF  THE 


g^mcriran  Social  ^cmn  %^uchim, 


AT  THE  GENERAL   SESSION 


IN  DETROIT,  MICHIGAN, 


MAY,   1875, 


BOSTON: 
ALFRED   MUDGE   &   SON,   PRINTERS,  34   SCHOOL   STREET. 

18  75. 


PRINTING  FOR  THE  BLIND. 

EEPORT 

OF  A  COMMITTEE   OF  THE 


AT  THE  GENERAIi  SESSION 


IN  DETROIT,  MICHIGAN, 

MAY,   1875. 


BOSTON : 
ALFRED  MUDGE   &   SON,  PRINTERS,  34  SCHOOL   STREET. 

18  75. 


Dear  Sir,  —  I  send  3^ou  the  following  copy  of  the  Eeport  of  a 
Committee  of  the  American  Social  Science  Association,  which  was 
read  at  the  four  daj^s'  meeting  recentl}-  held  in  Detroit,  INIichigan, 
which  will  soon  be  published  with  the  full  proceedings  of  that  Con- 
vention. 

It  will  be  seen  that  they  strongly  recommend  organizing  an 
Association,  to  produce,  at  one  central  place,  all  the  maps,  charts, 
globes,  printing  of  all  books,  all  school  apparatus,  writing-boards 
of  different  kinds,  slates  of  different  patterns,  and  every  kind  of 
apparatus  invented  for  the  blind. 

On  the  last  leaf  of  the  cover  I  have  added  a  statement  of  the 
object  and  present  organization  of  the  American  Social  Science 
Association,  as  some  may  not  be  aware  of  the  broad  ground  of 
usefulness  it  is  occupying  and  the  great  social  benefits  it  is  accom- 
plishing. 

S.    P.    RUGGLES. 

Boston,  June,  1875. 


Jutuu^A^  Jx'<4f^^ 


Hvnoj 

AG 


REPORT. 


Mr.  Sanborn  read  the  following  Report,  prepared  by  President 
Charles  W.  Eliot,  of  Harvard  Universit}^  on  behalf  of  a  committee 
consisting  of  himself,  Henry  Villard,  and  George  T.  Angell,  on  the 
subject  of 

"PRINTING  FOR  THE   BLIND." 

The  undersigned  were  appointed  a  committee  to  examine  the 
educational  apparatus  for  the  use  of  the  blind  which  has  been  in- 
vented within  the  past  few  years  hy  Mr.  S.  P.  Ruggles,  of  Boston, 
and  to  consider  the  proposition  which  he  made  to  the  superintend- 
ents of  Blind  As^'lums  in  1871.  They  have  attended  to  this  duty, 
and  have  the  honor  to  present  the  following  Report :  — 

With  the  best  appliances  now  in  use,  the  blind,  unless  very  ex- 
ceptionally intelligent,  read,  write,  and  cipher  through  the  sense 
of  touch,  slowly  and  laboriously.  All  knowledge  which  is  obtained 
through  reading  and  writing  they  therefore  acquire  painfull}^ ;  they 
study  Geography,  Algebra,  and  Geometry  under  heavy  disadvan- 
tages, and  composition,  even  in  their  native  language,  is  for  them 
very  difficult,  because  of  the  time  and  labor  required  for  the  mechan- 
ical operation  of  writing  in  such  a  fashion  that  they  can  themselves 
read  by  the  touch  what  they  have  written.  Moreover,  the  tools 
with  which  the  blind  now  read  and  write  and  study  Geography  and 
Arithmetic  are  costly,  so  that  even  the  best-equipped  asylums  are 
but  scantily  provided  with  the  most  indispensable  tools. 

To  improve  these  appliances  materiall}^,  and  to  make  them  cheap, 
would  therefore  be  an  immense  service  to  the  blind  ;  and  it  is  just 
this  service  which  Mr.  Ruggles  wishes  to  render  them.  It  will  be 
most  convenient  to  consider  his  various  inventions  under  the  several 
heads  of  Reading,  Writing,  Arithmetic,  and  Geography. 

1.^  Reading.  The  blind  read  by  touching  with  their  fingers 
raised  letters.      Neglecting  unessential  variations  there  are  two 


A 


kinds  of  letters  in  this  country :  first,  letters  •which  closely  resem- 
ble in  shape  the  letters  used  in  print  for  people  who  see ;  and 
secondly-,  letters  which  are  made  up  of  points  without  connecting 
lines.  The  first  kind  was  introduced,  and  has  been  widely  dissem- 
inated, by  the  Perkins  Institution,  at  South  Boston,  Massachu- 
setts ;  the  best  examples  of  the  second  are  the  Braille  letters  for 
writing,  and  the  letters  introduced  by  the  New  York  Institution 
for  the  Blind  for  both  printing  and  writing.  The  Boston  letter  has 
the  advantage  of  being  easily  read  by  those  who  see,  and  it  has 
been  used  in  a  large  number  of  books ;  but  there  is  no  question 
that  the  point  letters  are  much  easier  to  read  by  touch,  and  that  a 
considerably  larger  proportion  of  blind  people  can  learn  to  read 
them  with  facility  than  can  learn  to  read  the  Boston  letter.  It  may 
be  doubted  whether  the  point  alphabets  alread}^  in  use  are  the  best 
possible,  but  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  thc}^  are  superior  to  the 
Boston  letters.  In  reading  the  Boston  letters  the  blind  feel  only 
the  corners  and  extremities  of  tlie  letters,  not  their  whole  outlines. 
Sharply  raised,  isolated  points  are  much  easier  to  feel  with  distinct- 
ness than  the  ends  and  angles  of  lines.  One  objection  which  has 
been  urged  against  the  Braille  and  New  York  characters  is  that 
they  cannot  be  easily  read  by  the  eye,  so  that  teachers  who  can 
see  are  put  to  some  inconvenience  by  using  with  tlieir  blind  pupils 
books  printed  in  these  characters.  The  objection  is  not  a  forcible 
one ;  but  Mr.  Ruggles  has  found  a  way  to  meet  it  by  making  a 
point  alphabet  which  is  superimposed  upon  a  lower  embossed 
Roman  letter,  each  character  presents  prominent  points  for  the 
touch,  and  lower  but  perfectly  distinct  lines  for  the  sight. 

The  number  of  books  printed  for  the  blind  is  relatively  very 
small,  on  account  of  the  costliness  of  printing  in  embossed  charac- 
ters. Stereotyping  is  the  only  available  method  of  preserving  for 
future  use  the  pages  once  composed ;  and  the  ordinary  mode  of 
stereot3'ping  locks  up  so  much  metal  that  the  books  printed  from 
the  plates  become  very  costly,  inasmuch  as  large  editions  are  never 
needed,  and  the  demand  is  slow  at  the  best.  Mr.  Ruggles  has 
invented  a  method  of  stereotyping  plates  of  embossed  characters 
which  is  so  easy  and  cheap  that  everything  printed  for  the  blind 
might  be  stereotyped  at  once,  and  so  preserved  in  a  permanent 
form.  The  amount  of  metal  used  in  his  process  is  not  more  than 
one  fifth  of  that  required  in  the  ordinary  process  of  stereotyping, 
yet  the  plates  are  durable  and  perfectly  adapted  to  their  purpose. 


The  process  is  applicable  to  any  embossed  alphabet,  whether  in 
points  or  lines,  but  not  to  the  tj^pe  used  for  persons  who  see.  In 
printing  for  the  blind  Mr.  Ruggles  would  stereotype  every  page  as 
soon  as  it  was  set  up  and  corrected,  so  that  a  very  small  quantity 
of  type  would  suffice  for  a  book,  however  large,  and  that  small 
amount  would  never  be  put  into  the  press.  Indeed,  with  Mr.  Rug- 
gles' method  it  would  be  cheaper  to  stereotype  a  book  for  the  blind 
than  to  print  it  in  any  other  wa}'".  In  elementary  schools  for  blind 
children  the  stereotype  plates  themselves  would  be  exceedingly 
useful  in  giving  lessons  which  are  so  often  repeated  that  the  prom- 
inences upon  paper  sheets  would  soon  be  flattened  b}^  the  pressure 
of  many  fingers.  Thus,  the  alphabets,  the  first  lessons  in  reading, 
the  Multiplication  Table,  and  the  Table  of  Weights  and  Measures 
might  well  be  presented  to  the  pupils  on  metal  plates. 

2.  Writing.  Intelligent  blind  persons  can  learn  to  write  the 
ordinary  running  hand  so  that  persons  who  see  can  read  it.  In 
writing  this  character  they  use  a  pasteboard  guide  of  the  size  of  a 
large  sheet  of  paper.  This  board  contains,  at  the  proper  intervals 
for  lines  of  writing,  depressions  which  guide  the  fingers  of  the 
writer  in  forming  the  letters  and  carrying  the  lines  of  writing 
across  the  sheet  of  paper  which  is  placed  upon  the  board.  Mr. 
Ruggles  has  devised  a  method  of  making  these  pasteboard  guides 
in  two  diff'erent  patterns  with  the  utmost  accuracy,  and  at  the  same 
time  ver}'  cheaply,  so  that  they  could  be  sold  at  four  or  five  cents 
apiece,  which  is  a  small  fraction  of  their  present  cost. 

This  writing,  however,  cannot  be  read  by  the  blind,  and  it  is  of 
the  utmost  importance  that  the  blind  should  be  taught  a  handwrit- 
ing which  they  can  read  themselves.  That  the  blind  should  receive 
a  large  part  of  their  instruction  through  the  ear  bj^  oral  teaching 
is  inevitable ;  now,  persons  who  can  see  have  great  difficulty  in 
learning  much  from  lectures  alone,  without  aid  from  books  or  speci- 
mens, unless  they  can  take  notes  of  the  lectures,  and  studj^  these 
notes  afterwards  by  themselves.  To  apprehend  is  one  thing :  to 
digest,  remember,  and  reproduce  is  another ;  and  mere  apprehen- 
sion is  the  least  precious  part  of  the  complex  processes  which  make 
up  mental  training.  In  order  that  the}^  may  assimilate  the  instruc- 
tion which  they  receive  by  the  ear  the  blind  need  a  handwriting 
which  they  can  read  by  touch.  The  Braille  point-writing,  which  has 
been  extensively  adopted  in  Europe,  answers  this  purpose  well, 
though  it  is  far  from  compact,  and  on  that  account  is  not  well  adapted 


6 

for  printing.  The  New  York  system  of  point  writing  and  printing, 
advocated  by  Mr.  William  B.  Wait,  Superintendent  of  the  New  York 
Institution  for  the  Blind,  gives  the  blind  an  available  handwriting, 
and  being  more  compact  than  the  Braille  writing,  can  be  advantage- 
ously used  in  printing  also.  It  is  no  trifling  advantage  of  the  New 
York  system  that  the  same  characters  are  used  for  both  printing 
and  writing  ;  for  the  organs  of  touch  work  so  slowly,  when  compared 
with  the  eye,  that  the  fewer  the  characters  the  blind  must  learn  to 
distinguish  the  better,  although  of  course  it  would  be  easier  to  learn 
many  plain  characters  than  a  few  obscure  ones.  Both  the  Braille 
and  the  New  York  alphabets  are  punched  upon  paper  by  means 
of  a  style  which  is  held  in  the  hand,  and  is  guided  by  a  metallic 
frame  placed  over  the  paper,  the  paper  being  held  upon  a  back- 
board made  of  grooved  metal,  or  of  wood  covered  with  cloth. 
These  frames  or  guides  are  absolutely  essential  to  both  systems  of 
writing,  and  upon  the  merits  of  their  construction  the  success  of 
either  S3  stem  entirely  depends.  The  frames  used  in  the  two  sys- 
tems are  analogous,  though  not  alike.  Mr.  Ruggles  has  greatly 
improved,  and  at  the  same  time  cheapened,  the  Braille  writing 
frame.  The  metallic  guide  of  this  frame  in  its  common  form  holds 
but  two  lines  of  writing,  and  therefore  requires  frequent  shifting 
down  the  page.  Mr.  Ruggles*3  guide  covers  the  whole  page,  and  is, 
of  course,  much  more  convenient.  With  the  ordinary  Braille  writ- 
ing-frame only  one  side  of  the  paper  can  be  used  ;  with  Mr.  Rug- 
gles's  frame  both  sides  can  be  used,  and  the  writing  will  be  equally 
legible,  or  rather  tangible,  on  both  sides  of  the  sheet.  This  economy 
is  effected  b}^  a  simple  contrivance  analogous  to  that  of  the  register 
in  common  printing.  The  cost  of  writing-frames  is  of  consequence, 
because  every  instructed  blind  person  should  have  one  in  common 
use.  The  New  York  frame  now  costs  $3.50,  and  the  ordinary 
Braille  frame  not  less.  Mr.  Ruggles^s  frame  for  the  Braille  writing 
is  much  less  expensive. 

The  Institutions  for  the  Blind  in  this  country  have  too  much  neg- 
lected instruction  in  ix>int-writing.  At  the  Perkins  Institution  at 
South  Boston,  certainly  a  leading  Institution  for  the  Blind,  instruc- 
tion in  point  handwriting  is  not  included  in  the  course  of  studies. 
At  a  meeting  of  the  American  Association  of  Instructors  of  the 
Blind,  held  at  Batavia,  N.  Y.,  in  August,  1874,  the  following  reso- 
lution was  adopted :  — 

"  Resolved^  that  it  is  the  duty  of  each  superintendent  to  acquaint 
himself  fully  and  practically  with  the  Braille,  the  New  York,  and 


other  sj'stems  of  alphabet  writing  and  musical  notation  for  the 
blind,  in  order  that  he  may  be  prepared  to  form  an  intelligent  opin- 
ion as  to  their  respective  merits  as  S3\stems."  This  resolution 
implies  that  the  superintendents  of  Blind  As3^1ums,  or  some  of  them, 
were  in  August  last  not  acquainted  with  these  systems.  The  com- 
mittee are  inclined  to  agree  with  Mr.  "Wait  in  his  emphatic  statement 
that  *'  the  use  of  tangible  written  language  is  indispensable  to  the 
proper  instruction  and  training  of  the  blind.  Without  it,  no  sys- 
tem of  education  can  be  complete ;  without  it,  no  school  can  effi- 
ciently prosecute  its  work."  * 

3.  Arithmetic,  —  The  blind  generally  use  in  ciphering  a  metallic 
or  wooden  frame  full  of  square  holes,  into  which  t3'pe,  bearing  in 
some  cases  the  common  figures  and  in  others  certain  conventional 
signs  for  the  digits,  are  inserted.  The  metallic  frames  are  heavy 
and  costly,  and  they  blacken  the  fingers  ;  the  wooden  frames  are 
expensive  and  fragile.  Mr.  Ruggles  makes  out  of  a  thin  block  of 
wood  with  a  zinc  top  a  light,  durable,  and  clean  frame  full  of  pen- 
tagonal holes,  and  in  this  frame,  instead  of  nine  or  ten  kinds  of 
type,  he  uses  type  of  but  one  sort.  Projecting  upwards  on  the 
edge  of  one  end  of  this  pentagonal  t3^pe  is  a  raised  point,  and  on 
the  edge  of  the  other  end  a  raised  line.  The  point,  in  the  five  posi- 
tions which  the  pentagon  supplies,  gives  five  tangible  characters, 
and  the  line  in  the  five  positions  gives  the  other  five  of  the  ten 
needed  to  indicate  0, 1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7, 8,  and  9.  A  few  more  t^^pe 
give  all  the  additional  characters  needed  for  solving  algebraical 
problems.  Although  Mr.  E-uggles  considers  the  pentagonal  hole 
and  the  single  pentagonal  tyi^e  better  than  any  contrivance  now  in 
use,  3^et  he  can  cut  with  the  ingenious  machine  which  makes  these 
frames,  oblong,  square,  round,  or  hexagonal  holes,  and  j^et 
retain  all  the  merits  of  his  frame,  though  not  those  of  his  pentago- 
nal type.  Institutions  or  individuals  preferring  the  ordinary  square 
type  bearing  the  common  figures  could  use  these  type  in  the  im- 
proved frames. 

4.  Geography,  —  The  appliances  for  teaching  Geography  to  the 
blind  are  globes  in  wood  or  papeir-mache,  and  maps  in  wood,  plas- 
ter or  paper,  on  all  of  which  mountains,  rivers,  seas,  towns,  natural 
outlines,  and  political  boundaries  are  indicated  by  elevations  and 
depressions,  or  other  tangible  marks  like  pin-heads,  screw-heads, 

*  Thirty-Ninth  Annual  Eeport  of  the  Managers  of  the  New  York  Institu- 
tion for  the  BUnd  for  the  Year  ending  September  30,  1874. 


8 

parallel  embossed  lines,  and  similar  devices.  The  best  of  all  con- 
trivances for  imparting  a  knowledge  of  natural  and  political  bound- 
aries to  the  blind  is  tlie  dissected  map,  from  which  the  piece  repre- 
senting a  country  or  a  continent  can  be  actual!}^  taken  out  and 
grasped  in  the  hands.  We  cannot  learn  the  shape  of  objects  by 
touch  alone  unless  we  can  embrace  them  or  completely  encircle 
them  in  our  hands  ;  following  the  outline  of  a  body  with  the  fin- 
ger will  not  give  an  unerring  conception  of  form.  Hence  the 
great  superiority  of  dissected  maps  in  wood  or  other  tough  mate- 
rial, as  a  means  of  informing  the  blind  concerning  the  subdivisions 
of  the  earth's  surface,  whether  natural  or  artificial.  Maps  on  paper 
are  very  useful  adjuncts  at  a  later  stage.  The  best  equipped  Insti- 
tutions for  the  Blind  are  very  ill-provided  with  apparatus  for  teach- 
ing Geograph3^  The  Perkins  Institution  still  uses  the  well-worn 
globes  and  wall-maps  which  were  made  by  Mr.  Ruggles  more  than 
thirt}^  years  ago,  when  he  w^as  in  the  service  of  that  institution. 
The  New  York  Institution  has  good  wooden  maps  for  class- 
room use,  some  of  which  are  dissected,  but  it  has  no  paper 
atlases  or  other  maps  for  individual  ownership  and  private  use. 
We  should  think  school-children  with  eyes  very  poorly  equipped 
unless  each  one  had  his  own  geography  and  atlas.  These  two 
institutions  are  the  oldest  in  the  country,  and  both  have  fair 
resources,  partly  derived  from  endowments  and  partly  from  the 
State.  Now,  wooden  dissected  maps  for  the  blind  ought  to  be 
as  common  and  cheap  as  the  dissected  puzzles  which  are  sold  for 
the  amusement  of  children  who  can  see.  Embossed  maps  should 
also  be  printed  for  the  use  of  the  more  advanced  students.  Mr. 
Ruggles  has  demonstrated  that  such  maps  can  be  cheaply  printed 
and  made  so  firm  that  they  will  resist  nmch  handling. 

In  carrying  on  his  experiments  on  embossed  alphabets  and  maps 
Mr.  Ruggles  has  lately  built  a  new  press,  being  the  fifth  press 
which  he  has  constructed  expressly  for  printing  for  the  blind.  The 
first  and  third  of  these  presses  were  built  for  the  Perkins  Institu- 
tion, where  thej^  were  used  for  more  than  thirty  years.  The  second 
press  was  built  for  the  Pennsylvania  Institution  for  the  Blind,  and 
the  fourth,  in  1863,  for  the  American  Printing  House  at  Louisville. 
The  new  press  is  larger  and  more  powerful  than  any  of  its  prede- 
cessors, and  is  especially  adapted  to  produce  a  large  map  sheet. 

On  the  15th  of  January,  1871,  Mr.  Ruggles  addressed  the  fol- 
lowing proposition  to  the  superintendents  of  all  Institutions  for  the 
Blind  in  the  United  States  :  — 


9 


"  If  all  the  Institutions  for  the  Blind  in  the  United  States  will 
choose  a  publishing  committee,  said  committee  representing  all 
said  institutions,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  decide  what  books, 
maps,  etc.,  shall  be  printed,  the  number  of  copies  in  each  edition, 
and  how  to  be  distributed  among  the  different  blind  people  and 
institutions,  I  will  get  up  an  improved  printing  establishment, 
supplied  with  all  the  necessary  printing-presses,  all  the  type  of 
various  kinds  for  books,  maps,  and  all  other  work,  together  with 
all  the  conveniences  for  electrotyping  and  stereotyping,  and  also 
all  the  appliances  necessary  for  the  manufacture  of  the  school  ap- 
paratus, and  all  the  things  needed  for  the  successful  operation  of 
the  entire  mechanical  departments  of  such  an  establishment,  and 
all  at  my  own  expense,  without  any  charge  or  cost  to  said  commit- 
tee or  institutions,  and  I  will  also  superintend  the  same  without 
pay  or  cost  to  any  one,  my  sole  object  being  to  give  to  the  blind 
the  benefit  of  all  the  improvements  which  I  have  thought  out  and 
perfected  within  the  past  ten  years,  and  which  I  believe  will  be 
found  to  be  nearly  or  quite  as  much  in  advance  of  the  present 
modes  of  instruction,  printing,  etc.,  as  the  improvements  which  I 
made  in  1835  were  in  advance  of  everything  prior  to  that  time." 

Most  of  the  superintendents  thus  addressed  repeatedly  expressed 
the  warmest  interest  in  this  offer,  but  no  common  action  was  taken 
by  the  different  institutions,  and  Mr.  Ruggles'  generous  proposal 
has  thus  far  been  without  fruition.  At  a  convention  of  superin- 
tendents of  Institutions  for  the  Blind,  held  at  Indianapolis  in  the 
summer  of  1871,  and  at  a  meeting  of  the  American  Association 
of  Instructors  of  the  Blind,  held  at  Boston  in  August,  1872,  com- 
mittees were  appointed  to  confer  with  Mr.  Ruggles  in  regard  to 
his  proposal,  but  they  found  no  means  of  giving  effect  to  Mr. 
Ruggles'  benevolent  intentions.  At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Asso- 
ciation, held  in  August,  1874,  at  Batavia,  New  York,  the  following 
resolutions  were  adopted  :  — 

*'  Resolved^  That  the  Association  hereby  express  their  ver3^high 
appreciation  of  the  munificent  offer  made  b}^  Mr.  S.  P.  Ruggles, 
and  the  earnest  desire  that  his  inventions  for  the  benefit  of  the 
blind  may  be  made  available  to  the  greatest  possible  number  and 
at  the  earliest  practicable  time. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  believe  that  the  purposes  of  Mr.  Ruggles 
can  be  best  carried  out  by  a   Board  of  Trust  of  his  own  selection, 
with  which  we  shall  be  glad  to  co-operate." 
3 


10 

There  is  much  reason  in  the  last  resolution. '  The  work  of  mak- 
ing books,  writing-frames,  arithmetic-frames,  globes,  and  maps  for 
the  blind  is  a  mechanical  business,which,  in  addition  to  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  wants  of  the  blind,  requires  ingenuity,  manual 
skill,  and  familiarity  with  the  processes  and  resources  of  many 
different  arts  and  trades.  There  is  no  more  propriety  in  carrjdng 
on  this  mechanical  business  in  a  school  or  asylum  for  the  blind 
than  there  would  be  in  manufacturing  in  a  high  school  or  college 
the  books,  slates,  blackboards,  and  chalk  of  which  it  made  use. 
The  qualities  which  make  a  good  superintendent  of  an  asylum  or 
a  good  teacher  of  blind  persons  are  very  seldom  combined  in  the 
same  individual  with  the  qualities  which  go  to  make  a  successful 
head  of  a  machine-shop  or  of  a  printing-establishment.  There 
should  be  in  this  country  a  separate  corporation,  devoted  exclu- 
sively to  manufacturing  the  implements  and  books  which  are 
needed  by  the  blind,  having  no  purpose  whatever  of  mone3^-mak- 
ing,  and  conducted  in  the  interest  of  all  the  blind  and  of  all  the 
institutions  which  care  for  them.  The  corporation  would  be,  in 
the  main,  a  charitable  corporation,  although  there  is  no  reason 
why  it  should  not  have  some  receipts  as  well  as  expenses.  Ac- 
cording to  the  United  States  census  of  1870,  there  were  then  but 
20,320  blind  persons  in  the  whole  country,  of  whom  less  than 
4,000  were  under  twenty  years  of  age.  It  is  possible,  perhaps 
probable,  that  the  number  is  considerably  understated,  but  if,  with 
Mr.  F.  B.  Sanborn,  we  should  add  forty  per  cent  to  these  figures, 
the  number  of  blind  persons  in  condition  to  make  use  of  books, 
maps,  writing-frames,  etc.,  would  still  be  too  small  to  make  the 
business  of  manufacturing  these  articles  remunerative. 

It  is  very  desirable  that  this  work  of  charity  should  be  begun, 
in  accordance  with  the  suggestion  of  the  Association  of  Instruc- 
tors of  the  Blind,  by  the  organization  of  a  permanent  corporation 
which  should  take  advantage  of  Mr.  Ruggles'  public-spirited  offer 
to  place  his  skill,  his  time,  and  all  his  inventions  and  machinery, 
at  the  service  of  the  blind.  The  work  of  such  a  corporation, 
begun  with  the  help  and  under  the  guidance  of  Mr.  Ruggles, 
would  become  a  permanent  charity  of  a  very  useful  sort. 

The  committee  are  convinced  that  endowment  would  be  neces- 
sar}'  to  carry  on  the  work  in  a  satisfactory  manner,  and  they  rec- 
ommend the  Social  Science  Association  to  take  all  measures  in  their 
power  to  promote  the  organization  of  the  corporation  and  secure 
for  it  an  adequate  endowment. 


5  PEMBERTON  SQUARE,  BOSTON. 


This  Association,  founded  in  1865,  has  for  its  object  to  organ- 
ize and  concentrate  forces  now  working  at  random.  A  marked 
feature  of  ttie  time  is  the  desire  to  investigate  and  ameliorate 
the  conditions  of  human  life.  But  this  impulse,  too  often  fit- 
ful and  ill  directed,  is  apt  to  defeat  itself.  Thus,  all  com- 
petent authorities  agree  that  the  overflowing  and  unregulated 
spirit  of  charity  is  one  of  the  most  hurtful  and  dangerous  of 
our  social  tendencies.  The  British  Association,  in  successful 
operation  since  1857,  aims  to  propose  suggestions  of  reform 
for  the  attention  of  the  ministrj^  Such  an  agency  appears 
to  be  much  more  necessary  in  this  countr}^,  not  onl}'  from  the 
inefficiency  and  unsteadiness  of  executive  government,  but 
from  the  want  of  connection  between  the  States.  Upon  the 
great  subjects  of  Finance,  Taxation,  Education,  Jurisprudence, 
Health,  Charities,  Pauperism,  Prisons,  Railwa^^s,  Insurance, 
Police,  etc.  etc.,  not  to  speak  of  the  lack  of  system  in  individ- 
ual States,  there  are  or  may  be  thirty-seven  different  systems, 
unconnected  and  without  reference  or  advantage  to  each  other- 
To  bring  into  closer  relations  men  of  special  talents  and  ac" 
quirements  in  different  States,  and,  while  excluding  frivolities 
and  crotchets,  to  establish  general  principles  as  against  em- 
piricism in  the  conduct  of  society,  is  the  purpose  for  which 
we  ask  the  sympathy,  not  only  of  the  friends  of  humanity 
but   of  every  lover  of  his   country. 


AMERICAN  SOCIAL  SCIENCE  ASSOCIATION. 


LIST    OJP    OFFICISRS,   1875. 


f  PKESIDENT. 

David  A.  Wells,  Norwich,  Conn. 
VICE- PRESIDENTS. 
Samuel  Eliot,  Boston.  J.  W.  Hoyt,  Madison,  Wis, 

Theodore  D.  Woolsey,  New  Ha-    Charles  I.  Walker,  Detroit,  Mich. 
ven,  Conn.  William  G.  Hammond,  Iowa  City. 

H.  C.  Lea,  Philadelphia.  George  Davidson,  San  Francisco. 

Hkv.  Dr.  James  McCosH,  l^rinceton,    D    C.  Gilman,  ^aZ^/more. 
N.  J.  W.  T.  Hauhis,  St.  Louis. 

Rev.  Dr.  M,  B.  Anderson,  Bochester,  N.  Y. 

SECRETARY. 

F.  B.  Sanborn,  Concord,  Mass. 

TREASURER. 

Gamaliel  Bradford,  Boston  (5  reniberton  Square). 

DIRECTORS. 
Emory  Washburn,    Cambridge.  Mrs.  Henry  Whitman,  Boston. 

Charles  W.  Eliot,  ♦*  Miss  A.  W.  May,  " 

Prof.  Benj.  Pierce,         *'  Bev.  E.  C.  Guild,  Waltham. 

S.  G.  Howe,   Boston.  Rev.  Dr.  E.  C.  Wines,  New  York. 

T.  C.  Amory,       *'  H.  ViLLARD,  Nevj  York. 

C.  C.  Perkins,     "  Nathan  Allen,  Lovjell. 

J.  M..  Barnard,  Boston.  Dorman  B.  Eaton,  New  York. 

R.  M.  Mason,  "  E.  Lloyd  Howa^^d,  Baltimore. 

J.  S.  Blatchford,   Boston.  Henry  B.  Baker.  Lansing,  Mich. 

E.  E.  Hale,  "  Z.  R.  Brockway,  Detroit,  Mich. 

George  T.  Angell,      **  Mrs.  W.  P.  Lynde,  Milwaukee. 

J.  M.  Forbes,  **  Thomas  M.  Logan,  m.   d.,  Sacra- 

Mrs.  John  E.  Lodge,  Boston.  mento,  Cal. 

Mrs.  S.  Parkman,  "  D.  W.  Wilder,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Mrs.  C.  H.  Dall,  " 

The  Chairmen  and  Secretaries  of  the  Five  Departments  are  to  be  adder! 
to  the  above  list,  if  not  already  included.     They  are  :  — 

I.     Department  of  Education,   C.    W.  Eliot,    Chairman;  , 

Secretary. 
IL    Department    of   Health,   Dr.    Edward  Wigglesworth,   Boston, 

Chairman;  Dr.  D.  F.  Lincoln,  Secretary. 

III.  Department  of  Jurisprudence, ,  Chairman; ,  Secretary. 

IV.  Department  of  Trade  and  Finance,  David  A.  Wells,  Chairman  ; 

Prof.  W.  G.  Sumner,  New  Haven,  Secretary. 
V.    Department  of  Social  Economy,   Prof.  W.   B.   Rogers,  Boston, 
Chairman;  F.  B.  Sanborn,  Secretary. 

The  fee  for  membership  is  $5,  and  all  are  invited  to  become  members 
who  feel  an  interest  in  our  work.  All  members  are  entitled  to  receive  the 
year's  publications  of  the  Association,  "The  Journal  of  Social  Science" 
being  the  principal  of  these.  Seven  numbers  of  this  Journal  have  been 
issued,  and  No.  8  may  be  expected  in  the  autumn  of  1875.  The  price  of 
Nos.  1,  2,  3,  4,  and  5  is  $1.50  each;  of  Nos.  6  and  7,  SI. 00  each. 

Special  papers  appearing  in  "  The  Journal  of  Social  Science"  may  be  or- 
dered separately,  when  in  print,  at  the  rate  of  10  cents  for  every  15  pages. 

All  the  publications  of  the  Association,  including  Nos.  2,  3,  5,  G,  and  7 
of  "The  Journal  of  Social  Science,"  m;iy  be  ordered  of  tl)e  Secretary  of 
the  Association,  5  Pemberton  Square,  Boston ;  or  of  the  Publishers  (Hurd 
&  Houghton,  New  York;  The  Riverside  Press,  Cambridge,  Mass.). 


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